The magazine for all things Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo
Serving the Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo community since 1999
Available at select spots all across Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo
The magazine for all things Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo
Serving the Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo community since 1999
Available at select spots all across Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo
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CommunityA Passion for Baking -
Z’s Celebrated Baker
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Afternoon pedestrians scurry past Armida and her twelve-year-old daughter as they step from a yellow cab in front of Hotel Amsterdam. They are hours late for the luncheon. They were supposed to have been here last evening, but missed the connection in Houston. The ceremony over, the meal eaten, the awards presented, Armida doesn’t know what to do, but she has a room reservation for the night, so gripping Nereida’s hand, she presses forward through the throng and steps into the hotel lobby.
Armida Luz Murillo Gomez, 43, a native of the state of Guerrero, has traveled thousands of miles to Amsterdam, in the Netherlands to accept this prestigious international award. The Gold Star Worldwide Marketing Organization has granted Armida the prize in recognition of management leadership, and the quality products produced at her bakery serving Zihuatanejo and Ixtapa.
She and her family (she refers to her employees as “her familia”) hand measure and hand knead bread dough and then bake it in Italian ovens. She bakes all manner of pastries and breads, but the most popular are her bolleos or French baguettes.
Every day, locals and tourists alike can find a lavish display of her homemade baked goods at local tiendas and at her renowned retail outlet, Panaderia Armida, inside the Central Market on Avenida Juarez in downtown Zihuatanejo. The bakery also produces homemade breads and pastries each day for hundreds of guests at hotels and restaurants throughout Zihuatanejo and Ixtapa.
Those who know of Armida’s attention to quality and detail are not much surprised she won this award. Eva Marla Bergtold, owner of the Catalina Beach Resort, Zihuatanejo’s oldest hotel, has been serving Armida’s breads and pastries ever since closing the hotel’s bakery and selecting Armida’s bakery as a replacement.
“I serve only local products and then only the best. That’s why I like Armida’s breads and pastries,” Eva says. “They are always fresh and my guests love them.”
The Sotavento, el Presidente, Riveria Beach Resort and many other area hotels and restaurants echo Eva’s praises.
As a young girl, Armida helped her mother make doughnuts in the kitchen of their home. She and her brother traveled house to house selling these delicious treats. When she married, she used the adobe oven in her own kitchen to continue the doughnut baking tradition. Likewise, she and her husband sold the small ring-shaped cakes house to house.
Her adobe oven is long since replaced by modern equipment. Her bakers arrive at two a.m., to measure, mix, and knead. By four a.m., the dough has risen and her husband arrives to start the Italian ovens. She’s in the kitchen by five overseeing the baking and delivery schedule.
“Sometimes I work until nine o’clock at night. But being tired doesn’t matter,” she shrugs. “I have a passion…a persistence for baking.”
More than 1200 bolleos (baguettes) are baked each day—more during high season. The warm loaves and pastries are placed carefully on trays and loaded in delivery trucks. The baked goods arrive at restaurants and hotels before guests arrive at the breakfast table.
Her baguette recipe?
“It’s an original,” she grins, glances down. “The secret has been in my family for many years.”
“I feel very lucky. I am very lucky.” Her humility apparent, Armida says, “Many of my familia [employees] have been working with me for ten years, some even more. They are good and kind people. And, responsible, too.”
When Armida isn’t overseeing bakery operations, she likes to read. “My favorite author is Paulo Coelho. And…” she smiles shyly, “I like romantic novellas.”
Having missed the award luncheon, she is greeted at the hotel by the banquet host who has been waiting for her.
“He presented the award to me at the front desk in the hotel. All of the people in the lobby applauded. My daughter squeezed my hand. It brought tears to my eyes. I think it was better than at the banquet.”
This award and others Armida has received are on display at her outlet in the Central Market in downtown Zihuatanejo. A special thanks to Hector Garza, who acted as interpreter and to Jenny of the Agencia de Viajes America Travel Agency, for coordinating the interview.
